afaik, cussing (which is a euphemism for cursing) was actually cursing someone back in the days. like in the lines of "begone you unsavory filth". i don't know about all the languages but the ones i know and possibly in most of the languages in the world people curse 99% sexual insults. was it always like this in the history? why did sexuality become so sensitive that all the curses are focused on it? also, why do you think some languages are more "creative" and "ahead" in cursing than the others? whyyyyyyyyyyyy

If you read some Martial, Petronious, Apuleius or Catullus or indeed most of the graffiti in Pompeii, you can see that sexual insults as cussing is not a recent phenomena. I would think it as ancient as sentient man, simply because the sexual act is very central to our existence and thus holy/special and thus an obvious choice when having to make exclamations out of the ordinary that crosses a mental line and are intended to offend or provocate.

Funny you bring this up.
I've had some British curse words flung at me before and guess what, they
totally missed their mark by 16 kilometers. I had no idea what the word
meant so couldn't be offended. I'm thinking the sexual juiced curse words
are more universal and most people get the point better.

Funny you bring this up.
I've had some British curse words flung at me before and guess what, they
totally missed their mark by 16 kilometers. I had no idea what the word
meant so couldn't be offended. I'm thinking the sexual juiced curse words
are more universal and most people get the point better.

If you read some Martial, Petronious, Apuleius or Catullus or indeed most of the graffiti in Pompeii, you can see that sexual insults as cussing is not a recent phenomena. I would think it as ancient as sentient man, simply because the sexual act is very central to our existence and thus holy/special and thus an obvious choice when having to make exclamations out of the ordinary that crosses a mental line and are intended to offend or provocate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjadams

Funny you bring this up.
I've had some British curse words flung at me before and guess what, they
totally missed their mark by 16 kilometers. I had no idea what the word
meant so couldn't be offended. I'm thinking the sexual juiced curse words
are more universal and most people get the point better.

very good points indeed, good sirs (the rest of youse, please don't stray off the topic). i guess using sexuality is the most effective area for cussing.
elderly people i know from my hometown usually curse about sickness, death, mutilation etc. (in turkish) which is way more horrible for me but hey it's different for everybody

I remember Phil Collins saying that the writers wanted him to say that when he appeared on Miami Vice, they didn't know what it meant they just knew it was something British people said.
Of course we have a fine history of cursing, even the Bard came out with some good ones.http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/